Who needs hunter education in Ontario
Most Ontario residents must pass the Ontario Hunter Education Course, including an exam, before they can buy hunting licences and tags. Passing is also needed to join the Hunter Apprenticeship Safety Program.
Some people are exempt. New residents who have lived in Ontario for at least 6 months and took hunter education in their home jurisdiction may qualify. Non-residents who hunted in Ontario before, or who hold recognized credentials from home, may also qualify.
Steps to your first licence
- Take the Ontario Hunter Education Course in person or online and pass the exam.
- If you want to hunt with a gun, also complete the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC).
- Take your proof of completion to a participating ServiceOntario location to register your hunter accreditation.
- Get an Outdoors Card. You need it before you can buy any hunting licence.
- Buy your licences and tags, and apply for big game draws if you wish.
The course and the exam
The course covers hunting safety and equipment, laws and regulations, hunter responsibilities, wildlife management, hunting techniques and wildlife identification.
| Option | How it works |
|---|---|
| Instructor-led | In-person classroom training, in one day or over several days, with an exam taken with the instructor. Often combined with the CFSC. |
| Online | Self-paced. You complete the course material and the exam online. |
The hunter education course on its own lets you hunt with a bow once you buy the right licences. To hunt with a gun, you also need the CFSC and must carry proof of firearms accreditation, such as a valid Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL), a minor's licence or the CFSC student report. If you only have a student report, a valid PAL holder must directly supervise you.
The Outdoors Card, youth and non-residents
- An Outdoors Card is valid for 3 calendar years. Carry it while hunting.
- Residents under 16 need a parent or guardian's consent to get an Outdoors Card.
- Non-residents hunting in Ontario for the first time must be at least 16 and show accreditation from home.
- Bow and crossbow hunters do not need proof of firearms accreditation. Anyone hunting with a gun, including air and pellet guns, does.
Hunter Apprenticeship Safety Program
Residents aged 12 to 14 can hunt as apprentices if they have passed hunter education and the CFSC and have a parent or guardian's consent. An apprentice must stay under the direct and immediate supervision of a licensed mentor who is 18 or older, holds an Outdoors Card and has a valid licence for the game. Apprentices either share a firearm and bag limit with the mentor or buy their own licences and tags that are not obtained through a draw.
Hunter orange
During a gun season for deer, elk or moose, all licensed hunters must wear hunter orange. This includes bow, turkey, bear and trapping hunters. Migratory game bird hunters (except woodcock hunters) and double-crested cormorant hunters are exempt.
Hunter orange on the head and upper body makes a hunter easy for others to see.
- Blaze-orange hat.
- Blaze-orange vest.
- A hunter in camouflage only, who blends into the trees.
- Garment: at least 400 square inches (2,580 square cm) of solid orange above the waist, visible from all sides, with no open mesh or camouflage orange.
- Head cover: solid orange with no camouflage. It may have open mesh or a non-orange peak or brim.
- A backpack must not fully hide the orange on that side.
- Hunters in ground blinds must still wear orange. Marking the blind with orange is recommended.
Hours, vehicles and other safety rules
| Rule | What Ontario requires |
|---|---|
| Hunting hours | Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset (exceptions for night raccoon hunting and spring turkey) |
| Firearms at night | Unloaded and encased (enclosed on all 6 sides) in areas usually inhabited by wildlife |
| Vehicles and boats | No loaded firearm in or on a vehicle, snowmobile, ATV, aircraft or motorboat; a paddled boat with no motor is allowed |
| Roads | No shooting from or across the travelled part of a public road |
| Shotguns | Plugged to hold no more than 3 shells in total |
| Injuries | A firearm injury that needs a doctor must be reported to a conservation officer |
Hunting carelessly is an offence, with large fines or jail possible. Sunday gun hunting is allowed north of the French and Mattawa rivers; south of them it depends on the municipality.
Private land, tracking and game care
Always ask permission before entering private land. Notice to stay out can be given by signs, fences, cultivated land or markings such as a red circle about 10 cm across. If a wounded animal runs onto posted land, get permission before you follow it.
You may use a leashed tracking dog during the open season, on a leash no longer than 10 metres, with the hunter who wounded the animal present. You must not let the edible meat of game, including black bear, spoil or be abandoned.